The second free-flight test of the Boeing-built X-40A, an 85% scale prototype of the US Air Force's X-37 spaceplane, will be made later this month, after the successful automated test at NASA's Dryden Research Centre in California in March.
A X-37 prototype will later be flight tested in the atmosphere, before orbital and re-entry flights tests by the fully-fledged X-37.
Source: Flight International
Orbital launch pioneer SpaceX is being contracted by the American space agency NASA to develop a so-called “US Deorbit Vehicle” that can safely return the International Space Station to Earth via controlled re-entry.
BAE Systems has completed its acquisition of Ball Aerospace, with the move further strengthening its US business presence.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has retired its Mars helicopter Ingenuity after the craft suffered damage upon landing.
